Forever Girl
by mollikia
Summary: Where he is concerned, she was always too soft for her own good. But that's alright because she is his Forever Girl. AU NaruSaku.
1. Chapter 1

Forever Girl

By: mollikia

Rating: Teen

Words: 1442

Warnings: Swearing, fluff and pervyness.

Summary: Where he is concerned, she was always too soft for her own good. But that's alright because she's his Forever Girl. AU.

Disclaimer: I am a poor college student just having a bit of fun. I own nothing.

Jade eyes shot open as sharp crash punctured the sleepy serenity of the tiny, garishly rosy room. Taking a slow breath and great care to make as little movement as humanly possible she slipped out of bed, hand stretching out, reaching for the baseball bat tucked innocently between her headboard and nightstand. Muffled swearing carried through the room, the voice unrecognizable in her half-awake stupor. Blinking the sleep from her eyes, she jerked out of bed, spinning on her heel, grasping the cool wooden handle of the wooden bat, ready to bludgeon whatever jackass had chosen to worm their way into her room. Raising the bat and letting out a battle cry, she turned and tried to take aim at the intruder-

"Hey Sakura-chan I didn't know you slept in your panties- wait, wait, wait, please don't kill me I didn't mean to crack your window!" Naruto's ridiculously cheerful voice resonated through the quiet little room at just the right frequency to piss her off. Praying to whatever deity happened to be listening, Sakura begged for the patience to deal with this infuriating boy while simultaneously thanking that merciful being for her parents being out of town.

Lowering her weapon and staring him down, her lips pressed into a thin line when she saw the glowing green number on her clock. Sakura let her body relax enough to hiss, "You have one minute to explain what you're doing in my bedroom at two thirty-seven on a school night before I kill you and hide the body where no one will find it after selling your organs on the black market." She punctuated the last few words by jabbing him in the stomach with the baseball bat.

His goofy grin slowly began to dissipate, a nervous giggle escaping chapped lips that was a little too high pitched to be natural; she was insane when sleep deprived. "I just, uh, wanted to talk. I know it's late, but could we just… talk?" Her silence was almost deafening; tan hands fiddled with the zipper of his day-glow orange jacket. "Please?" The tension in his shoulders was obvious, he was waiting for the near inevitable violence that would ensue; Sakura was temperamental when well rested, her moods were unpredictable when she didn't get a full seven hours of sleep.

"Let me get this straight. You broke into my parent's house and damaged my window so that we could talk," her teeth were grinding together almost painfully at this point, "I'm going to castrate you where you stand with a plastic spork." Running her hands a little too forcefully through her sleep tousled hair; she counts down from fifty in her mind. Finding her inner calm, she continues slowly, "Never mind Naruto." A cold wind blows through the room, chilling her legs and reminding Sakura of preference of sleep clothes, she demands, "Turn around, I need to put some pants on."

"No need Sakura-chan I'm not embarrassed that you're in your underwear! Though I would have never pegged you to be a fan of lacy black panties, I mean it's like you knew I was going to be here tonight and wanted to-"

The bat jabbed him in the ribs harder than necessary. "Finish that train of thought and I'll go through with my previous threats." Grumbling dejectedly, he turned his back to her as requested. "Now what's going on that you couldn't wait six hours to tell me?"

Naruto could hear her shuffling through dresser drawers and took a few seconds committing the sight of her lace clad bottom to memory. Those boxing lessons did amazing things for her ass. "Sakura-chan I think we're pretty good friends, at least when you're not trying to kill me, and you're really cute, especially when you're angry- you're eyes get all dark and your faces gets really red and it's kinda hot…" Catching himself rambling, he fumbled for the speech he had been practicing on the run to her house. Unable to concentrate enough to recall it, he improvised. "An-anyways the bastard and I were gaming yesterday, I was really kicking his ass, and he said he you'd be great in the zombie apocalypse 'cause you're already super violent and good with hard blunt objects…" He sputtering for a second, realizing what had just come out of his mouth, turning scarlet from the images it conjured. "So when the zombie apocalypse finally gets here, will you be my zombie hunting partner?"

Her stare was incredulous. "You're telling me that you snuck in my room to ask me to be your zombie hunting partner?" She was almost too tired for rage, but an angry edge was starting to become prominent again. While this was the first time he had snuck in her room at night, Naruto enjoyed texting or calling her at all hours and filling her silences with inane questions and what ifs; his favorite questions usually involved them being the last surviving humans. "Sure, fine, whatever Naruto. I have an anatomy test first thing tomorrow- later today actually and I need some sleep. Now if that is all kindly get the fuck out of my room and _let me sleep I would be very grateful and less likely to kill you._"

"Can I stay?" At her look of disbelief he kept going, "I mean I'll sleep on your floor and I won't go near the fridge; the people upstairs were just fighting again and, well, you know how loud they get…" Shrugging with feigned nonchalance he gave the petite pink hair girl the best puppy dog eyes he could summon. His upstairs neighbors were infamous in their circle of friends - fights at all hours of the night, their voices echoing down the crappy apartment halls; the worst nights were those when they made up, loud shrieks of pleasure invading his apartment. One of their more colorful fights involved someone throwing an old tube television and its entertainment center off of a balcony.

The television had broken the wooden rail of Naruto's balcony and the meta television stand had shattered the sliding glass door. The blond was a guest at Uchiha household for a week.

She was going too soft for her own good, his kicked puppy look always managed to override her logic and make the butterflies in her stomach flutter uncontrollably. It was his stupid- _pretty_- eyes. "Fine, but if my parents ever find out you stayed the night here, you're taking the all the blame." Lumbering back towards her inviting bed, Sakura motions lethargically over her shoulder to the closet. "Extra blankets are in there. Help yourself, and stay away from my underwear drawer." Climbing into bed and finding her special body indent, she settles languidly against her pillows, watching him dig through her closet, eyes hooded and half closed with exhaustion, as he searched for blankets long enough to cover him fully. "And why couldn't you go to Sasuke-kun's? His house is closer."

Naruto just smiles softly at her, admiring how stunning she looks half tucked into bed and disheveled; he waves off her question, mumbling something about the bastard giving him shit for being freaked out by the arguing. "Plus your room doesn't smell like tomatoes and feet. His sock are lethal and I think he hides tomatoes under his bed, believe it." He finds a comfortable position curled up on the side of her bed surrounded by a mountain of decorative pillows and stuffed animals. A small giggle could be heard above him, followed by creaking bedsprings; she leans over the side, a dainty finger pressed to her lips pink locks delicately framing her face. "Like your apartment smells any better. Now go to sleep or you'll have to hobble to school tomorrow." And with that last sweet warning, she curled into the dark recesses of her blankets and let her eyes droop shut; warmth running through her system.

Naruto kept track of the minutes that ticked by, a sweet warmth overcoming him; Sakura's slight hand had snaked its way into his, fingers sliding between his and squeezing gently.

He was eventually going ask her the right question and tell her the right things, when the time was right. But for now he was content to just be near her, even if she had the tendency to go from adorable to horror movie villain in seconds flat.

"I haven't forgiven you yet, I'm just tired."

"I know, Sakura-chan."

"And you're paying for my cracked window, no excuses."

"Yes ma'am!"

The bastard was right, for once—she would make a fantastic zombie hunter. And he was going to hold her to that promise.

A/N: I wrote a thing and fully I blame tumblr's NaruSaku tag for the sudden inspiration. Basically this is going to be an AU revolving around Naruto and Sakura's relationship; interconnected one-shots that will vary in length and rating following them through diffent stages of their lurve. I'll be updating this every Thursday.

Idk, I really enjoy making Naruto vulnerable, since that role usually (stereotypically) falls to Sakura.

Feedback is requested, especially constructive criticism, because I'm using this as a way to hone my writing and grammatical skills. So please let me know what you think! Also if anyone is willing to beta read that would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for reading :D


	2. Chapter 2

Forever Girl

By: mollikia

Rating: Teen

Warnings: Teenage wangst, idk we're not to the fun stuff just yet.

Disclaimer: Just writing for funsies, I own nothing.

Since the first time he had staggered through her (still cracked) window, Naruto had become quite fond of sneaking into her room by moonlight, always wanting to pester her about ridiculous hypotheticals that only his warped mind could create. The second visit involved the question of whom she would bring to a deserted island, why, and how they would avoid brain eating amoebas that inhabit tropical water; Sakura grinned mischievously and responded that she would bring Sasuke-kun because he had common sense and wouldn't ask her inane questions.

Naruto didn't say much the rest of that night.

He attempted to be considerate when creeping into her room, only coming over only if she had been texting late into the night, careful not to make any noise lest he wake her very protective parents, both of which would happily castrate him if they found out about the (innocent) escapades. The blond would usually leave around five in the morning, half an hour before Sakura's parents started their morning routines and two hours after the pair fell asleep. Sakura humored him most the time, listening to and honestly answering his silly musing; Naruto looking severly out of place her magenta carpet and similarly hued pillows and blankets, Sakura leaning over the edge of her bed, comforter over her head leaving only her tired eyes and smirking mouth visible. Both whispered conspiratorially on his third visit about dyeing all of Sasuke's wardrobe pink as payback for being…himself; if the moody bastard was going to constantly insist that she was annoying, then she was going to show him how annoying she truly could be.

On visit four, they made a comprehensive plan for the zombie apocalypse; she had agreed to be his partner and she would never let it be said that Haruno Sakura did anything half-assed, including stupid delusions of a zombie outbreak. Paper littered the floor with diagrams: little stick figures with blond and pink hair, other stick figures missing limbs and covered in red dots, and Naruto's messy scrawl declaring their survival.

Visit five (in as many weeks) was different, felt different. He could feel it the second he wiggled his way into her room, banging his knee on the houses brick siding and cursed loud enough to alert her to his presence; instead of frantically shushing him, she simply stayed curled in bed, propped up by pillows, covers wrapped over her shoulders and stared blankly at the wall, obviously lost in thought.

"Hey Sakura-chan, do you have a bandaid?"

Her words were muffled by the thick comforter covered all but her eyes, the fatigue in her voice slipping through the thick fabric. "What? Why?"

Naruto smiled, ran a hand through his windswept hair slowly and raised an eyebrow suggestively, ending his goofy flounce with a dramatic pose in a sad attempt to be suave, "I just scrapped my knee falling for you…and also because the bricks on the side of your house are sharp as hell and I might be bleeding."

Her tired eyes blinked slowly. "You make even less sense at night. Now find your spot and go to sleep, I'm exhausted. Unlike some people, I do my homework and have extra circular activities outside of playing video games and whatever else teenage boys do." After a moment she added, "That was a rhetorical, don't answer."

He ungracefully kicked off his shoes, crusted dirt falling into her plush carpet. "Hey…uh…Sakura-chan?"

"What now Naruto?"

Completely aware of her current mood he decided treading lightly would be his best option. "I know you're grumpy and all… but would it be okay if I…uh, I don't know how to say it without sounding weird or dirty… can I sleep on your bed instead of the floor?"

"No fucking way." Her voice was a low hiss, mindful of to make sure her voice would not be heard outside of her room.

"Aw, come on, please? You know I just joke about being perverted, well I don't joke it's just that you're way scary and I respect you too much to try anything without you saying you want it." There was an odd sincerity to his words that she had come to loathe. It made heart beat a little faster and made her denial a little more obvious.

She didn't give him a response immediately, musing on if she was comfortable enough with him for this; once the thought crossed her mind she knew the answer immediately. "…Fine, you can sleep with me, but if you steal the covers or touch my butt or anything weird, I'll feed you laxative and arsenic flavored ramen."

He blanched at the thought and hoped she was only half serious, but happily climbed into her bed; it was much softer than he expected and smelled like favorite perfume- something flowery and sharp and very _her _that he couldn't name. Eyes closed, he breathed her in. "Sakura-chan?"

"Hm?"

"Why do you let me sneak in?" His voice a tired whisper, Naruto turned on his side facing her back; he could make out the tense line of her shoulders, and their subtle movement as she took a deep breath.

"Why do you ask me weird questions whenever you come over?" She countered after a moment, not sure if she was deflecting or just unwilling to answer his question.

Many things in life confused him—why nudity wasn't allowed in teen movies but someone could get graphically disemboweled, people that were better at gaming when stoned, and the feminine hygiene aisle just to name a few. But more baffling than all of life's little oddities, there was Sakura, the little pink haired girl with bright eyes and a mean right hook. Through their younger years Sakura had been completely infatuated with the broody bastard, only sparing Naruto a glance to comment on his idiocy or his incompetence. He took what he could get, basking in any attention her could get from her, more than willing to work for her affections. As they grew older her infatuation simmered out, from what Naruto could tell, most likely because she started really interacting with the socially inept boy and realized that he was as interested in romantic relationships as she was in contracting syphilis.

Then things started to change between the two of them. While nice was not an accurate description for the feisty girl, she was caring in her own way, making sure he understood school assignments, sharing her lunch when he forgot his. Her insults became less barbed, a teasing tone finding its way into her voice when joking about his inability to spell anything aside from his name correctly; she changed, he changed, they grew close. His feelings changed, grew—Sakura was no longer just a girl he wanted to impress so she would acknowledge him, or a girl he liked despite her glaring flaws.

He asked weird questions to watch the play of emotions over her face: the delicate rise of an eyebrow when he caught her off guard, the way she would chew on her soft bottom lip when formulating an answer, the sincerity in her voice when she answered, how she only seemed to play at annoyance when he kept questioning her so that they could keep talking.

He asked her the questions as proof that he could hold an actually conversation, albeit mundane and sometimes weird conversations, with her unlike the bastard who would utter three sentences on a social day. There was lingering envy when on his part when she would talk about Sasuke, old feelings simmering right under his skin, questions of why she could feel that way about him and what made the bastard so special. Never one to stay down for long, he pushed away the jealously and resent towards his best friend. If they were both willing to give him friendship, he would take and savor it; if all she could offer him was friendship, he would be satisfied to at least be her friend and confidante.

Still, he made no secret of his admiration.

Realizing she wasn't going to get an answer anytime soon, and that even in the dark his pout was noticeable, she grudgingly muttered, "If I had a problem with you coming over, you would know. Now answer my question or go to sleep Naruto, before I punch you unconscious." Her words were slurred, half muffled by the pillows as she rolled towards him. Gentle arms wrapped around his waist, her cheek tucked against his chest. Startled, he lay motionless for moments, unsure of how to react to the sleepy girl half clinging to him. He wrapped his arms around her tightly, pulled her closer, squeezing her almost too tightly.

A/N: I'm not sure how I feel about this one- it's a bit mediocre even for me; may go back in later to tweak it a bit.

Thoughts? Comments? Criticism? Review and let me know what you think, please!

Thank you for reading, and to all those that read and/or reviewed the first chapter!


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